Quick Christmas Fix

Do you know what I love best about writing? I can create my own world. On paper everything is quick, easy, and light. There are no messes, bad smells, or really difficult people to upset the day. Conflict can be resolved in a concise and perfectly worded short conversation in which the guilty party admits wrong, apologizes and life goes on smoothly. Life on paper is as close to a Hallmark movie as we are ever going to get and I know that at Christmastime the Hallmark channel is watched by millions of women kind and I am sure some men too. Though I think life on paper is lovely, I do live in the real world and not much of what I described is real life but there is one thing in the world of decorating that is real… quick makeovers for Christmas! We had one week and that was plenty of time to do a quick fix on a living room. More and more retired Villagers are attracting their children to move to Central Florida and one Villager gave the gift of a living room makeover to her daughter who lives just beyond the heart of The Villages.

• Busy
Do you remember when you were raising kids and working how much time that took? It seemed like you had to wait patiently until you could get the time to decorate and when that time arrived you were too tired to really get things done. I often say to my clients when we are having trouble scheduling appointments, “When did you have time to work because you stay so busy in retirement?” There is so much in The Villages to occupy your time it is like a full time job with the perk of naps when you want them. Also, I think people view a quick makeover as a large undertaking and they don’t know where to start. In this living room we added just a few things but the few things have such a great visual impact that it looks like we did more than we really did in reality.

• Blinds
The old blinds in the space were verticals. The verticals did not complement the windows because they completely covered the windows. The verticals came down and the two windows received new plantation blinds off the rack from a local big box store. The new blinds were able to be mounted inside the window frame so they look smaller and fade away.

• Stationary side panels for impact
The ceilings in the space are tall and when you walk through the front door the first thing you see is the back wall of windows. These are a focal point and we can pull the space together be highlighting this focal point. We purchased eight panels off the rack from a bed and bath store. The panels were 95” long so that we could hang them high to draw the eye upward. Each rod is about twenty four inches long and requires two panels to look full enough. The panels have grommets which work out really well for pleating. The grommets allow the curtains to have eight nice folds per set. The curtains fill the wall with abundant color which makes the room look warm and inviting. This is a very inexpensive way to get great impact.

• Rug
We added a five by eight rug to the space. We could have done a bigger rug but this rug is easy to clean and with kids and dogs the rug needs to be easy care and family friendly.
The rug is so important because it visually grounds the space. What is visually grounding you ask? It means to make the space feel connected. The color from the curtains connects to the color of the rug and now the space looks defined. When a room has hard surface flooring like this one or wall to wall carpeting, the furniture seems to float in the space.
Adding a rug connects the furniture to the room.

• Pillows
We added pillows to the sofa that pull in all the colors from the rug and the curtains. These pillows also become a visual connector that makes the space look pulled together.
We purchased pillows that can be used or tossed to the side and still look great when they find their home back on the couch.

• Art
We added a large flower in between the curtain panels that complements all the color in the room and adds an eclectic look to the space.

• Keep it simple and replicate
If you keep things simple and replicate colors in different ways, pulling a room together is not as scary or as time consuming as it seems.
Call Ruth your full service decorator at: 352-804-2056
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Before and After Pics Below